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In his youth Paul O'Connell was a very good swimmer, and so it was that he seemed to be pushing back the years at a late moment in the second half as he lay atop a maul, reaching over with his arms in a fair imitation of a long-distance freestyler. The moment was captured and reproduced in L'Équipe, France's sports newspaper, as evidence of the total domination of the national rugby team over the Irish.

To single out O'Connell was slightly unfair, for the second-row had a fine match at the lineout, teaming up with Leo Cullen and the admirable Jamie Heaslip to deny the home team a regular supply of possession there. It was the only phase of play where France did not have the upper hand and the scoreline would have been even more lopsided had O'Connell and Cullen not excelled.

On the other hand, O'Connell had a maladroit afternoon with his hands in other sectors, and in that regard it was obvious to make him the symbol of what went wrong for the grand slam champions as they lost for the first time under Declan Kidney in the Six Nations. They went unbeaten last year not because of the dazzling quality of their play, but because they kept their skills intact under the most minute scrutiny.

Here in freezing Paris they creaked under pressure at the scrum and breakdown. And even when they secured tidy possession, the French wing ­forwards, ­Thierry Dusautoir and Fulgence ­Ouedraogo, harried them relentlessly, mopping up what was left after the French three-quarter line had stormed forward in their blitz defence.

Mathieu Bastareaud in that regard took another massive stride forward as a cult figure in French rugby. They like their oddball performers in France, shaggy monsters such as Sébastien Chabal, but if they can discover a favourite in the centre, their darling position, they will be unstinting in their adoration.

Bastareaud was sent home in disgrace from New Zealand last summer, having invented a tale of assault on the ­meanish streets of Wellington to explain away injuries sustained in his hotel room. The true story has yet to be told, but international rugby life for Bastareaud was put on hold by France's coach, Marc Lièvremont, until the centre had gone through an entire ritual of rehab, apology, community service and rediscovery of form.

Bastareaud duly did his penance and has re-emerged as a genuine force. In attack, he announced his return against Scotland with a pair of tries. In defence, he led the assault on the Irish backs and if that meant cutting down the master ­himself, Brian O'Driscoll, 10 years his senior at 31, then that was what he did.

Others joined in, making it a rare day of torment for O'Driscoll, one tackle by the scrum-half Morgan Parra even more jarring than Bastareaud's. O'Driscoll refused to give up and he played a role as link between Stephen Ferris and David Wallace for Ireland's only try. But in the showdown between France's young pretender and Ireland's finest, it was Bastareaud who lapped the Stade de France afterwards with praise raining down on him.

The offload by Bastareaud for Clément Poitrenaud's try was the highlight of the game, although if ­Gordon D'Arcy had been able to complete his run, kick and chase in the first half, he might have stolen the honour and brought Ireland to life.

They did have a second chance to alter the course of the game, opting to kick a penalty to the corner just before half-time and trying to maul their way over in time-honoured Munster style. Typical of their day, they knocked on.

France have been unable to quell talk of the grand slam, but they now have to ­confront one of their demons, a third victory on the trot. They have a habit of winning twice and then collapsing. Their defeat by New Zealand in November is the prosecution's evidence that France's real worth is still hard to gauge.

Ireland have demons of their own, the small spillages everywhere and the hack by Jerry Flannery at Alexis Palisson. They, not a swimming Paul O'Connell, told of a team coming apart at the seams in Paris.